Topic Area: Online Teaching & Learning
Presented by: Lucy Thompson, Jonathan Weaver, Nathan Baker, Jessica Tschida
Abstract:
Good collaborations are vital in higher education. They promote professional development and, when supported by the institution, help to sustain quality faculty members. However, these collaborations are usually framed around research goals and not undergraduate teaching goals. During the Spring 2021 semester Drs. Thompson (The Great Brit) and Weaver (her U.S. mate) collaborated on a new way of structuring and teaching their two separate and large online Introductory Psychology courses. Additionally, they worked closely with two of their Graduate Teaching Assistants – Nathan Baker and Jessica Tschida – in the preparation and eventual presentation of one week’s worth of material to the students in both courses. This information session discusses the approaches, support systems, and co-teaching models that were undertaken to implement “The Great British-U.S. Teach Off” in the Spring Semester of 2021. Drs. Thompson and Weaver will also share the lessons they learned while teaching collaboratively, and how their collaborative teaching efforts supported a quality online undergraduate learning environment for their 750+ students combined across the two courses. Additionally, they will discuss their efforts to integrate and pilot a training model for the promotion and growth of graduate teaching assistants through this collaborative teaching model. Finally, Drs. Thompson and Weaver will offer suggestions for how MSU, and other institutions, can support, assess, and benefit from collaborative and co-teaching models of instruction in higher education.
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